


Binary Truths

by AwayLaughing



Series: All The Days That Have Passed [14]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Angsty Schmoop, Dorks in Love, Lies, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-07-30
Packaged: 2018-02-11 02:44:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2050524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwayLaughing/pseuds/AwayLaughing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>Nothing</i> always comes back to bite someone on the ass. That's why <i>it's nothing</i> is such classic bullshit, but Neji can't think of a way to call Shikamaru out on this. Or of another excuse for himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Binary Truths

**Author's Note:**

> Challenge from [here](http://awayandlaughing.tumblr.com/post/68217772129/30-day-otp-challenge-for-the-fluff-impaired)
> 
> Day 15 - Telling lies

Neji woke with a start, heart hammering, and hand coming up to strike at the person hovering over him. They dodged easily but slowly, even smacking his hand lightly and Neji swore, forcing himself to sit up. “Shit, Shikamaru,” he said, “I'm sorry.” He pushed himself up, ignoring the way his armour dug into his pelvis in this position. “What are you doing here?”

 

In the murky half light he saw Shikamaru raise an eyebrow. “In my own bathroom, you mean?” he asked, coaxing Neji to sit up more. Neji did as directed, feeling wobbly. It was exhaustion, he knew, but he couldn't seem to articulate that enough to ease the alarm he could see lurking in Shikamaru's eyes.

 

“Your bathroom...?” he trailed off, frowning as Shikamaru hauled him to his feet and switched on the light. Instinctively, he slammed his eyes shut, and heard Shikamaru's sharp inhalation.

 

Oh right.

 

“Did you hit your head before or after someone splashed you with acid?” came the question, Neji forced an eye open.

 

“I'm not concussed,” he said, “I am just very, very tired.” He never slept well, period, but especially not on missions. This mission, which had gone fifteen kinds of fucked up pretty much from the onset, hadn't even offered the choice. Shikamaru shot him a searching look, but just sighed and unbuckled Neji's chest plate, deftly avoiding the part that was half eaten through.

 

“Almost gave me a heart attack, you know,” Shikamaru said as he manipulated Neji out of his shirt. Neji tried to help him by complying, but after it became immediately apparent he was doing more harm than anything else.

 

“Apologies,” Neji said. Shikamaru continued speaking as if Neji hadn't made a sound.

 

“Door was wide open, blood smeared on my wall, then here you were, crumpled on the bathroom,” he gently shoved Neji onto the toilet seat. “Left leg.”

 

Neji complied with the implied order, letting his head fall back. “I can undress myself.”

 

“Yeah I can see that's why you were sleeping in your disgusting armour on the bathroom floor.”

 

Neji, were he a little less dead tired would have glared. As it was, he directed his ire at the back of his eyelids.

 

“Relax,” Shikamaru said, successfully stripping Neji's pants off. Neji knew he must have been a sight, day old bandages around his ribs and his upper arm, half dried blood up to his elbows. Idly, he realized his mask was gone, and he was fairly certain he'd had it when he and his squad tumbled into the village.

 

“My mask?”

 

“Kitchen table,” Shikamaru said, something tinging his voice that made Neji open his eyes again. “I rescued it from the genkan.” Neji had to squint, but he could see the pinching around Shikamaru's eyes, the slight tick in his jaw from clenching. His movements were smooth and methodical, but practically impersonal.

 

“Shikamaru?”

 

“It's nothing,” Shikamaru said, punctuating his point by peeling off the bandage around Neji's arm. Neji could see it was stained with a sickly yellow, though he didn't smell infection. He knew the area would still be red and raw, though they'd slapped some neutralizing salve on it before it started blistering. “Sandworm?”

 

“Sandworm,” he confirmed. The blasted monsters generally stuck to Suna, eating and fighting one another and not the locals. That some idiot had decided to import one - baby or otherwise – and use it as a guard dog was beyond him. The fact it had chewed up the entire household Neji had been sent to deal with was not.

 

“You were only gone three days,” was all Shikamaru said. He understood better than anyone that for now, at least, he wasn't privy to the ANBU portion of Neji's life. Someday he would be, if both were still around when he invariably ended up even further in the chain of command than he currently was. Until then, however, Neji shared what he could when prompted, and Shikamaru never pushed for more.

 

When he couldn't think up a response vague or witty enough to go to the statement, Neji kept silent. Shikamaru didn't look up from his work, and nothing more was said.

 

* * *

 

 

Morning came, it seemed, far too quickly. Despite the fact it was almost noon, Neji's eyes felt gritty his limbs lethargic. He considered just turning back into the bed and pulling the covers over his head, but a rustle not far had him turning to see Shikamaru seated on the floor, papers all around him. Surprised, he watched as Shikamaru, seemingly oblivious, read and signed off on papers with all the methodical uncaring of a machine.

 

“Is that a budget?” he asked finally, watching as Shikamaru wrote down numbers which, as far as he could tell, had no relation to the ones on the page.

 

“Next quarter for the clan,” he said, “rutting season coming up means I need to try and predict damages so we can reduce spending in other sectors.” Neji nodded, but didn't say anything until Shikamaru finally looked up.

 

“Is there a reason you are on the floor, and not at your office?” Either of them – technically Shikamaru had two though Neji couldn't think of a single case of ever having seen Shikamaru in the clan offices for more than a minute.

 

“Yeah,” Shikamaru said, and then turned back to his work. Neji stared, nonplussed.

 

“Do you wish to share?”

 

“No.”

 

Neji stared at Shikamaru's bowed head for a moment, uncomprehending. Obviously something was wrong – something which was his fault apparently as even Naruto would have picked up on that – but Neji really didn't think he'd done anything particularly ire worthy of late. “Will you tell me what I did?” he asked, “or do I have to guess?” As he spoke he forced himself to a stand, coming around to sit gingerly across from Shikamaru, mindful of the papers.

 

Shikamaru sighed. “You didn't do anything, Neji,” he said, looking up. Neji could tell he'd slept poorly, not only because of the bruises under his eyes but in the familiar tense pinch to his eyes. It meant he had a head ache, almost always brought on by stress. Neji resisted the urge to reach forward and try and smooth it away.

 

“Then explain.”

 

Shikamaru offered him a quirked eyebrow. Admittedly, Neji was more prone to demands than requests, especially when in a poor mood, and it seemed today of all days Shikamaru was choosing to take issue with it.

 

“Please, Shikamaru.”

 

Their gazes remained locked for a moment, that stubborn tenseness appearing as a tick in his jaw. Neji refused to look away, however, despite the near-open irritation he was causing. Finally Shikamaru broke the stand, closing his eyes and dropping his pen haphazardly to the side.

 

“Look Neji, I'm really not mad at you. Or upset with you or,” he waved, “anything, really. Kay? Just drop it, I don't need to be in a good mood all the time.”

 

Neji's eyebrows made an admirable attempt to reach his hairline. “Nor have I ever suggested it be so,” he said, “but obviously I'm causing you distress of some sort just by being here. Should I go?”

 

The look Shikamaru sent him could have skinned bark. His dark eyes were narrowed, irritation dancing in them. His lips were pressed so hard they went white, and Neji could see the younger jōnin was holding back whatever it was he wanted to stay.

 

“No,” he said at last, though Neji had never been less convinced by anything Shikamaru had said. “I don't want you to go.” He looked away, eyes flicking down to the left for a moment. “I don't.” He rocked back onto his hands, head lolling back. “Just...I just have a head ache. That's all.”

 

“I see,” Neji said at last. Shikamaru was lying through his teeth, but Neji couldn't for the life of him figure out why. “Is that why you stayed here?”

 

“No,” Shikamaru looked up, “I wanted to keep an eye on you.” He looked away again, though this time it seemed more embarrassed than an untruth. Neji was silent for a moment before he levered himself up. Shikamaru shot him a startled look as he settled behind him. “Wha-”

 

“Shut up, Nara,” Neji said, pressing an idle kiss to Shikamaru's head as he deftly pulled off the leather tie keeping Shikamaru's hair up.

 

“Hey now-” Neij shushed him again with a squeeze of the shoulders. “Neji what are you doing?”

 

“Dealing with your headache.”

 

Shikamaru snorted, but did relax incrementally under Neji's hands. “Unless you plan on crunching these number's it's not going to go away,” he said in a passable imitation of his usual irritation.

 

“I was always quite good at mathematics,” Neji said, “it is a rather basic requirement of being able to properly throw a weapon, after all.” As he talked he dug his fingers into what had to be a particularly tender spot. Shikamaru hissed, but didn't pull away, and Neji allowed the silence to fall between them.

 

The back of Shikamaru's head didn't yield any answers to the tension between them and Neji's part in it, and at a loss, Neji pressed another kiss to his dark hair.

 

“Neji?” Shikamaru sounded a little drowsy, though he was still brick-stiff. Neji smiled a little bitterly.

 

“It's nothing.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This IS a fluff challenge, it's just some parts are more fluffy than others >.>


End file.
